Introduction: Fear-mongering Profiteers and Why Greed is Good in the Apocalypse

in #capitalism7 years ago (edited)

Greetings Steemit community,

My name is Danny Quest, I am a long time activist, anarchist, and truth-spreader. I have worked with or written for most of the brands you are probably already familiar with, I was lead social network admin for WeAreChange.com, I have articles published on Mint Press News, The Free thought project, Waking Times, Activist Post, Truth Theory, Collective Evolution, The anti-media, The 5th Column, and others. My career to this point has been mostly focused around Facebook, however lately I have been experiencing more and more censorship from that platform, combined with the direction the company is taking I decided it be best if I jumped ship and made the move to Steemit, and I look forward to building my page here.

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Fear-mongering Profiteers and Why Greed is Good in the Apocalypse

From the very beginnings of the written word there have been apocalyptic prophecies and dooms day warnings. In the early days those who had a knowledge of astronomy or geology could leverage their understanding for personal and financial gain. Knowing when a solar eclipse would occur, recognizing the signs before a volcano eruption, keeping track of the seasons, were all valuable information during the early ages of man. Those who possessed this wisdom stood to gain great power and prestige if they could accurately predict these events, and so they tried. There have always been prophets foretelling of some catastrophic event that would alter man kind, and like wise there have always been those who for lack of a better description enjoy being afraid. This natural fear of the future's events had been used by many Kings, Priest, and religious prophets to garner or sustain a following, and this same tactic has indeed carried over to modern times. From the Red-scare of McCarthyism, Peak Oil in the 80s, Global Warming in the 90's, Terrorism in the 2000's, on down the line to climate change and the threat of nuclear war that we endure currently.

Today Mainstream media and Alternative media alike cannot go a week without espousing some far-fetched doomsday scenario on the people who with a millennia of sub-conscience programming unwittingly flock to the closest savior rather it be a news group, politician, or a consumer good, they'll soon return to calm knowing they have purchased the latest water filter device from Infowars, or believing president Trump will protect them from the latest terror threat, which if you are not aware is often created by the politicians themselves. Watching this dialectic play out over and over is painful to witness, as the self aware need no protection but individual liberty, sovereignty, and the right to self govern, which brings me to my second and most important part of this discussion. Greed Is Good, but what do I mean by that exactly ? It's quite simple actually. The reason why you have electricity is not because the electric company cares about your well being. The reason why the super market is full of food is not because the owner doesn't want people to starve. As Adam Smith wrote long ago, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." Consider this when Alex Jones, CNN, or some infomercial is trying to sell you on their latest fear campaign, and telling you why you need to purchase an energy system, water filtration, or protection device. A common fear-mongering story involves the power grid shutting down due to some unforeseeable event, but the truth is that energy is a multi-billion dollar industry which employs tens of thousands of people all of whom profit from the power grid being operational. The same can be said for other important industries such as agriculture, food & water distribution, Telephone service. In what dream world do these fear mongers and their followers live in ? We live in a world where money is power, where capitalism reigns, and greed is good, because should one of our major services go down due to some unforeseen event, the last thing I would want to rely on is the government and charity, No I'd much prefer there to be a greedy corporation hell bent on rebuilding their infrastructure, not because they care about me, but because they care about their bottom line and protecting their quarterly profits.

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Just as politicians create terrorism so they can demand ever more funds to 'fight' it, it isn't uncommon for corporations to undertake similar operations.

I today posted a link to The Intercept's story on how PREPA, the utility company in Puerto Rico, has been hiding the equipment and supplies necessary to restore power there, that remains off for almost half the island.

This was done to increase their profitability, by making the problem worse, while the governor has been preparing to privatize the industry.

Crony capitalism is a thing, and it's every bit as evil as government, communism, or any other rapine institutions you might name.

Capitalism, corporations, and greed aren't a magic bullet that produces wealth for society, unless the love of money is held in check. Few corporations do.

I look forward to seeing more posts from you, despite my apparent disagreement with your thesis here. I can learn nothing from my echo, after all =p

Thanks!